NEWTOWN -- Legislative leaders are considering the establishment of an account funded by donations to ensure that first responders and others affected by the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting won't suffer financial harm if they miss time from work, a state lawmaker said this week.

State Senate Minority Leader John McKinney, whose district includes Newtown, said leaders of both parties have agreed to support the plan.

"All four leaders of the two caucuses are working on it," McKinney said. "I think its passage is not in question. It's just a matter of timing as to when we can get this done."

The bill would be offered in place of an earlier proposal that would have extended workers compensation benefits to Newtown police officers and other first responders who may develop symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder as a result of the Dec. 14 tragedy, in which 20 first-graders and six adult staff members were killed.

That idea had to be shelved because workers compensation is basically an insurance policy, and it could not be applied retroactively.

"This would be a completely new bill," McKinney said. "It's not something we've done before. The idea is to set up a system that would be limited to the tragedy of Dec. 14."

"What we're looking at first and foremost is replacing lost wages that may occur if someone has to be out of work and has exhausted their sick days, as well as people who have to keep working to pay their bills but are having issues," McKinney said.

Lawmakers believe that an appeal for donations would be sufficient to fund the bill.

"We're going to look to encourage a lot of the people who have contacted me and others and said they want to help," McKinney said.

"We haven't come to any final conclusions about who is eligible and what would be covered," McKinney said, but among those who will be eligible are teachers, administrators and staff members at the school, local volunteer firefighters, state police and any out-of-town police and firefighters who may have also gone to the school.

Newtown Police Union President Scott Ruszczyk said last week that one officer has already been diagnosed with PTSD and has been unable to work. At least six others are also showing the effects and have been working intermittently.

"Some people have gone out and thought they were ready to come back, but they weren't, so they've gone out again," he said.

Eric Brown, a Waterbury labor lawyer who represents Council 15 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, which includes the Newtown Police union, said he was encouraged by the results of a meeting last week that included McKinney, Speaker of the House of RepresentativesBrendan Sharkey, Majority Leader Joseph Aresimowicz, Minority Leader Larry Cafero, Senate President Pro Tem Donald Williams, as well as representatives of several unions whose members were affected by the Sandy Hook massacre.

"Progress has been made. It looks as if we might have a bill ready to go within the next several weeks," Brown said.

More than a third of the approximately 125 troopers involved in the initial response to the shooting and the aftermath are also feeling the effects, said Andrew Matthews, president of the Connecticut State Police Union, although he declined to say how many have been diagnosed with PTSD.

"We are pretty fortunate in that our contract provides us with provisions that might not be available to local departments," Matthews said, including more sick days and the ability to bank it.

But Matthews said he'd also like to see the workers compensation law changed so police officers who are diagnosed with PTSD after being exposed to such traumatic events are covered in the future.

"As union leaders, we believe that any injury that's mental or physical should be taken care of under workers compensation," he said.

"If we don't take care of those people, they won't get the treatment they need and might not heal correctly. That will end up costing even more money in the end."